What: Comfort fleece
blankets, bears, chocolates and other novelty giftsWho: David Avalos of INsecurity
BlanketWhere: Burbank,
CaliforniaWhen: Started in 2001

Adults need security blankets, too--just ask David Avalos, the
46-year-old designer of the INsecurity Blanket, a snuggly fleece
blanket created to help people take a lighthearted approach when
facing their insecurities.

The idea struck when he noticed how much comfort a blanket gave
his 3-year-old son. Avalos suddenly started wishing he had
something as simple as a blanket to comfort him whenever he
hit rough times.

With no experience in the manufacturing industry, the former TV
executive and current co-owner of a TV production company decided
to design a full line of novelty gifts such as blankets, pillows,
bears and chocolates (sold for $24.95, $14.95, $11.95 and $5.95,
respectively). Before long, Avalos was attending gift shows across
the country, and his products were an instant hit. The line is now
available in 175 gift and pet stores (a pet blanket was released
last year), as well as in two mail-order catalogs and on the
company's Web site (www.insecurityblanket.com). The products have
also been popular at hospital gift shops.

"I've found my passion, and that's just creating my
own path," says Avalos. By putting the marketing skills he
learned in the TV industry to use in his new business, he managed
to generate national press coverage in Parenting magazine
and on The Rosie O'Donnell Show and Extra. In
addition, INsecurity was featured on About.com.

Now that sales for 2003 are projected to hit $60,000, Avalos has
set his sights on developing new products, including INsecurity
slippers, nightlights, pajamas and even a book.

Mr. Fix-It

Mark Bucher takes the headache out of handling the kind of
maintenance nightmares that restaurants and retail stores routinely
face. In fact, years of firsthand experience with managing such
properties inspired him to launch Fixx Services, a company that
offers facility management services.

Now businesses that have maintenance problems can call Fixx to
get help 24/7; third-party plumbers and other professionals are
sent to the site by Fixx representatives. "[Customers] want
one number to call if their oven breaks or if someone throws a
brick through their front window," explains Bucher, 34.

Customers receive 40 percent off repair prices once they pay a
one-time membership fee in addition to monthly fees based on their
volume of calls. Vendors are willing to offer the discount because
they get more business from Fixx's referrals.

Self-funded and homebased until last year, Fixx Services now has
12 employees in Bethesda and currently does business nationwide,
thanks to word-of-mouth referrals from satisfied customers. Bucher
expects sales for 2003 to reach $10 million.

In Good Company

What: Roommate service for
single mothersWho: Carmel Sullivan of
Co-abode.comWhere: Santa Monica,
CaliforniaWhen: Started in 2000

In an effort to temper the isolation she felt after her divorce,
Carmel Sullivan decided to find a roommate--preferably a single
mother like herself--to share her home. But after realizing no
services existed to help with her search, she placed her own ads,
personally conducted interviews and eventually found her perfect
match.

Realizing that the women she'd interviewed--but hadn't
chosen--might find compatible roommates in each other, Sullivan
decided to get them in touch with each other. The women were
extremely grateful for the help, prompting Sullivan to make a
business of helping single mothers. "It's really an idea
[whose] time has come," says Sullivan, 45, who notes there are
a staggering 14 million single mothers living in the United States,
many of whom are struggling financially as well as emotionally.

With the help of a friend in addition to $20,000 from an angel
investor, Sullivan created a Web site that features member profiles
of those looking for roommates, offers resources for single mothers
and provides a "Circle of Friends" page that mothers can
visit to get some support. Today, 4,800 users nationwide pay $30
per year for membership. Sullivan projects 2003 sales to quadruple
2002's $30,000.

Now that Co-abode.com has
found some success--the business has been featured on CBS
News, Good Morning America and Inside
Edition--Sullivan has received countless funding offers. She
hopes one day to create a nonprofit arm of the business to provide
the first and last month's rent (in the form of a microloan) to
women who are in dire need of relocation assistance once they have
found their new roommates online.

On a Shoestring

What: An Internet privacy
software companyWho: Jon Oringer of SurfSecret
SoftwareWhere: New York CityWhen: Started in 1997Start-Up Cost: $0

When Jon Oringer decided to use his computer know-how to start a
company and create his own Internet privacy software, he became
completely self-sufficient, although mom and dad were there to
support him all the way.

Oringer, who lived with his parents while attending graduate
school for computer science, already owned a computer. Fortunately,
Oringer had been "programming forever," so in the comfort
of his own room, he created a Web site and wrote his own ordering
system, thus conveniently eliminating the costs of hiring a Web
developer and purchasing shopping software. The Web server space
cost $100 per month, which Oringer paid for himself during the
first two months. By the company's third month in business,
however, his revenue stream easily covered those expenses.

Because he was a full-time student sharing a roof with his
parents, Oringer, 28, had the luxury of paid utility bills. Now
working out of his own apartment in New York City, he employs four
off-site programmers but still codes everything himself and
automates as much as possible, thereby keeping his costs extremely
low.

His first product, SurfSecret, has been licensed to many public
libraries and was soon followed by PopupEliminator in 2001. Oringer
is currently working on spam-elimination and firewall software, and
expects sales to reach $700,000 for 2003.